Hard West

Hard West is a turn-based tactics title from 2015, and the data places the Intel Core i5-12400F + AMD Radeon RX 570 combination in the 1653rd position out of 1699 tested combos. This is a bottom-tier ranking, putting the pairing in the bottom percentile of all systems tested for this specific game. The low ranking is not a reflection of the CPU, which is a modern 6-core, 12-thread Alder Lake part that holds a 77th percentile rank among all CPUs, but rather the GPU's age and capacity limits. The RX 570, a 2017 Polaris card with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, is the bottleneck, and its performance percentile of 74 against all GPUs does not translate to playability in this title at higher settings.

For a game like Hard West, which is not demanding by modern standards, the measured frame rates show a clear pattern: the CPU is more than capable, but the GPU struggles to push frames as resolution and settings increase. At 1080p, the system can deliver a playable experience, but the margin for error is thin. The data suggests that users should prioritize frame rate stability over visual fidelity. The best experience, based strictly on the measured rows, is at 1920x1080 with Low settings, where the average frame rate reaches 75.7 FPS. This is the only setting that provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. Pushing to Medium at 1080p drops the average to 60.7 FPS, which is technically playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. High at 1080p yields 47.9 FPS, and Ultra is a slideshow at 36.6 FPS, so those presets are not recommended for a smooth experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1653 out of 1699 places it in the bottom 2.7% of all tested configurations for Hard West. This is a stark indicator that the pairing is not optimized for this title, despite the game's age. The bottleneck is unambiguous: the RX 570's 4 GB VRAM and GCN 4.0 architecture are insufficient for the game's demands at higher presets. The CPU, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 19221, which is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, which scores 19210 with a tiny delta of 0.1% faster. The i5-12400F also sits close to the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (19364, 0.7% faster) and the AMD EPYC 7773X (18979, 1.3% slower), confirming that the processor is not the limiting factor. The GPU's average benchmark score of 30158 is similarly close to its nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (30109, 0.2% faster) and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (30097, 0.2% faster), but these are not the right points of comparison for a game that is clearly VRAM-limited.

The ranking data is measured, not estimated, and it tells a consistent story across all resolutions. At 3840x2160, the system cannot maintain playable frame rates at any setting, with the High preset averaging just 14 FPS and even the Low preset only reaching 24.3 FPS. At 2560x1440, the situation improves but remains marginal, with the Low preset hitting 49.7 FPS and High at 29 FPS. The only resolution where the combo approaches a stable 60 FPS is 1920x1080, and only at the Low and Medium presets. This indicates that users with 1080p monitors can play the game, but those with higher-resolution displays will be forced to make drastic compromises.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data is clear: for a smooth experience, the Low preset at 1920x1080 is the only reliable choice, delivering an average of 75.7 FPS. This provides enough overhead to keep the game responsive during turn-based combat and exploration. The Medium preset at 1080p, at 60.7 FPS, is a viable alternative if visual quality is a priority, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold on average. However, it is the ceiling for this combination; the High preset at 1080p drops to 47.9 FPS, which feels sluggish for a tactical game where camera panning and unit animations should be fluid.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only sensible option, averaging 49.7 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS target but may be acceptable for a turn-based game where fast reaction times are not required. The Medium preset at 1440p falls to 39.7 FPS, which is a noticeable step down, and the High preset at 29 FPS is too choppy for comfortable use. At 3840x2160, no setting is playable, as even the Low preset maxes out at 24.3 FPS. The recommendation is to stick to 1080p and choose Low or Medium based on whether frame rate or visual fidelity is more important. Pushing beyond these settings will result in a subpar experience, as the data shows a steep drop-off in performance.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Hard West at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at 1920x1080 with Low settings, where the average frame rate is 75.7 FPS, or with Medium settings, where it averages 60.7 FPS. At 2560x1440, the best result is 49.7 FPS on Low, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution that provides a consistently playable experience. At 2560x1440, the Low preset is borderline, and at 3840x2160, all settings are unplayable, with the highest average being 24.3 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this pairing?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The Intel Core i5-12400F has a 77th percentile rank among all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 19221, placing it within 1.3% of its nearest rivals. The AMD Radeon RX 570, with 4 GB of VRAM and a 74th percentile rank, cannot keep up with the CPU's capabilities in this game.

Q: How does the RX 570's VRAM affect performance?

A: The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient for Hard West at higher settings. The performance drops are steep when moving from Low to Ultra at any resolution, which indicates the GPU is running out of memory or bandwidth.

Q: What is the playable frame rate at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 49.7 FPS, which is the only setting that exceeds 30 FPS. Medium averages 39.7 FPS, High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 20.6 FPS. None of these reach 60 FPS, so 1440p is only viable for users who accept lower frame rates in a turn-based game.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever viable?

A: No. The Ultra preset produces the lowest frame rates at every resolution: 36.6 FPS at 1080p, 20.6 FPS at 1440p, and 11.7 FPS at 2160p. These are all below playable thresholds and should be avoided.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system shows its best performance. The Low preset delivers an average of 75.7 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium drops to 60.7 FPS, a 19.8% reduction from Low. High falls further to 47.9 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 36.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is a substantial 39.1 FPS, highlighting the GPU's struggle with higher-quality textures and effects.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern persists but with lower absolute numbers. Low averages 49.7 FPS, which is a 34.3% drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium averages 39.7 FPS, High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 20.6 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 29.1 FPS, showing that the performance penalty for higher settings is consistent regardless of resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system is overwhelmed. Low averages 24.3 FPS, which is barely a slideshow. Medium averages 20.7 FPS, High averages 14 FPS, and Ultra averages 11.7 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is only 12.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU is so constrained that even reducing settings cannot yield a playable experience. Across all resolutions, the data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p Low and Medium are the only configurations that approach or exceed 60 FPS, while everything else requires significant compromises.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is a 14 nm Polaris 20 chip with a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz. It features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. Its memory configuration is 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. These specifications are modest by modern standards, and the measured frame rates in Hard West reflect this.

The GPU's memory clock is 1750 MHz, or 7 Gbps effective, which is a critical factor in this game. The data shows that performance degrades sharply as settings increase, which is a classic symptom of VRAM capacity or bandwidth limitations. The 4 GB frame buffer is likely exhausted at higher presets, causing the GPU to spill over to slower memory or reduce draw distances. The GPU's FP32 performance of 5.095 TFLOPS and texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s are sufficient for the game's geometry, but the memory subsystem cannot keep up with the demands of High and Ultra settings.

The RX 570's 74th percentile rank among all GPUs and average benchmark score of 30158 are respectable for a card of its era, but they are misleading in this context. The GPU is placed near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (0.2% faster) and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (0.2% faster) in aggregate benchmarks, but those cards have far more memory and newer architectures. In Hard West, the RX 570's age shows. Its DirectX 12 support (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3 compatibility are not enough to overcome the hardware limitations. The card's TDP of 150 W and suggested PSU of 450 W are modest, but the performance ceiling is the issue. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary reason this combo ranks so low, as the CPU is clearly capable of driving much higher frame rates.